A dog in Fort Myers peers out from a porch on Friday. Lee County Animal Services served a notice to the resident for cruelty to animals and unsanitary living conditions. / Andrew West/news-press.com

Keith Sechrist an animal control officer with Lee County Animal Services prepares to give a notice to a homeowner who has dogs living in unsanitary conditions on porch in Fort Myers on Friday 5/17/2013. Lee County Animal Services is proposing a law that would make it illegal to let dogs live outdoors. / Andrew West/news-press.com

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Animal control officials and hunting advocates are at odds over a pack of proposed dog laws that would make housing canines outside illegal and mandate sterilization for most pets.

The Lee County Commission could vote to make the measures law as early as next month.

But in calls to commissioners this week, Florida Dog Hunters and Sportsman’s Association lobbyist Lane Stephens urged them to consider loosening the measures for hunting dogs.

“It would be impractical to require full time indoor kenneling of such dogs, and quite candidly, the dog probably wouldn't be very happy. They live for the outdoors,” stated Stephens, who explained hunters invest a great deal of money in properly kenneling their prized pooches.

Under the proposed laws, any dog house or fenced areas less than 100 square feet (10 feet by 10 feet) per canine would be illegal. Tying dogs to stakes or other objects also would be outlawed under the proposed ordinances. County officials hope pet owners will replace tethers by fencing off their entire yard or use electronic shock collars to keep dogs contained.

Sterilization also would be mandatory for cats and dogs that aren’t registered with organizations such as the American Kennel Club, which only accepts purebred pups.

Pet owners who fail to comply could have their pooches seized 30 days after a warning from animal control, under the proposed law.

“Enforcement is always the last resort,” Lee’s Animal Services Director Donna Ward said. “You want to try and change the behavior and improve conditions for pets and people.”

In Collier County, residents are allowed to tie their dogs to objects for short periods of time with supervision, according to Collier County laws. Lee’s proposed laws provide for similar exceptions.

Collier also regulates enclosures, but considers an animal’s size in calculating requirements. A dog that measures 30 inches from nose to the base of its tail, for example, would require a 25-square-foot pen.

Ward said by outlawing dog houses and enclosures less than 100-square-feet, she hopes owners will start bringing their pooches in at night.

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Dogs that live outside, she said, are often neglected — barking at all hours and disturbing neighbors. They’re also more likely to attack humans, she said.

While Florida law makes animal abuse a criminal offense and county ordinance provides for fining people with noisy pets, Ward said, animal control officers need more authority.

Civil citations issued under Lee’s ordinances often go unheeded by dog owners, who continue to put their bark-happy hounds outside leading to 1,934 noise complaints last year, according to animal control documents and Ward.

Many animal control responses stem from complaints, but officers are free to seek out violations in between calls, officials said.

Protect pets

Animal Control Officer Keith Sechrist said four dogs confined to a second floor balcony at an east Fort Myers apartment complex Friday is just one example of how officers could better protect pets with greater legal authority.

Sechrist was returning to the apartment for the second time this week. A few days earlier he was summoned by neighbors who signed a statement, testifying the dogs were being shot by their owner with Airsoft guns. Green pellets littering the ground below indicated the neighbors weren’t lying, Sechrist said.

Piles of feces that were swept to the parking lot below paired with crowded conditions inside the balcony could constitute another misdemeanor offense, Sechrist said.

But Sechrist can’t examine the animals for injuries from pellets or access their living conditions to build a criminal case because they’re inaccessible from the ground and no one answered the door. All Sechrist said he could do Friday was post a notice asking the owner to contact animal control. In a few days, he said, he’ll return to follow up.

“Someone like this, they’re not going to call you,” Sechrist said. “They’ll just throw it out because they know we don’t have arrest powers.”

In cases where animal control wants a pet owner locked up, they have to complete an investigation and present their case to police, Sechrist said.

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Twenty-seven people in Lee County have been arrested on animal neglect and abuse charges over the past three years, according to records from Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Cape Coral Police Department.

Not a single person was arrested on animal cruelty or neglect charges by Fort Myers police in the past three years, according to Fort Myers Police.

Animal control officers can write misdemeanor citations, but officials don’t track how many pet owners were criminally cited in cases of neglect and abuse, Lee’s top animal control officer Glen Johnson said.

Laws also allow animal control officers to seize pets — 387 were taken for abuse and neglect last year, according to animal control documents.

However, Ward said, the process is time consuming and lengthy without proof of immediate distress or severe injury.

Far reaching

Commissioner Frank Mann, however, said Lee’s proposed laws are too far reaching. As written, he said, responsible pet owners could be caught in a “wide net.”

“No one supports cruelty to animals and there may need to be some things done in Lee County, but I’m still concerned about the depth and breadth of the proposal before us,” Mann said.

Residents made 129 “unfounded” barking complaints last year, according to Lee County documents.

“A lot of times we get those calls, but as soon as you see the dog you can tell right away,” Sechrist said.

When a complaining neighbor insists, animal control becomes a neutral party, Sechrist said. The neighbor signs a complaint and a judge decides.

Senior Judge Radford Sturgis has presided over a number of Lee’s animal cases.

“I think it’s very sad that neighbors often get into disputes over animals whether it be barking or defecation but it happens,” Sturgis said. “Laws and ordinances should be drafted to cover the problem but not to punish people and dogs.”

“I’m just trying to create an ordinance that’s workable where they have more power to do their job,” Pendergrass said.

Hunting dogs, Commissioner John Manning said, should be exempt.

“I am in agreement with 90 percent of the ordinance and would exclude mandatory indoor housing for those dogs proven to be utilized for hunting,” Manning said. “I would need a further explanation of the mandatory sterilization issue but would agree with it in most cases.”

Ward, however, hopes commissioners will pass the proposed laws as they stand and without an exception for hunting dogs. A vote could be set as early as June 18, she said.

“They're working dogs that have a purpose, but they still deserve to be treated humanely,” Ward said.